Calder looked to Gaire. “Can you do anything?”
She shook her head. “I’ve done what I can. Hope is helping. It takes time to see what damage remains. I don’t know how the two were bonded.”
“Can we take him home? Will they accept him?”
“If I accept him, they will accept him. But how will we get him there? He’s not a merman.”
Calders’s answering grin was mischievous. “Have you ever been on a yacht?”
Chapter 20
“In other news, San Francisco native and billionaire Mike Love is still missing only one month after the brutal murder of his parents. If you have any information on the whereabouts of the local billionaire, please contact Crime Stoppers at…”
Calder switched off the radio.
His gaze flicked across the hardwood deck. The mahogany shined in the sunlight, and the soft leather seats were the finest quality. Mike sat huddled at the edge of a bench, staring off into the distance.
Calder wondered how far away Mike lived today. “You okay, bro?”
Mike startled. The dark circles were fading and his weight was increasing, but his complexion was still sallow. He flashed a weak grin, “Sure. Just thinking.”
“Have any nightmares last night?”
Pain crossed Mike’s face. “Don’t think so. Hard to believe my parents are really gone. Sometimes I think I’ll wake up and find this was all a dream. She told me over and over that I had sent you on a sketching trip to Hawaii, and when you got back, we’d get married. I can’t believe I couldn’t think straight enough to know she murdered them.”
Calder didn’t respond. The old Mike showed up from time to time, but withdrawals from Venora’s mind control and horrible nightmares were taking their toll.
Soft footsteps pulled Calder’s attention from his longtime friend. Hope’s blond hair whipped about her. She was wrapped in a sheer white dress from top to bottom.
Meeting Calder’s eyes, she asked, “How is he today?”
“Ready for your company, I think.” She looked sheepish. Calder hid a knowing smile, and he looked down to keep it hidden. She thinks we can’t tell. “Go on, Hope.”
Hope strolled across the boat, gently seating herself next to Mike. He patted her knee, but she caught his hand, holding it until he turned to look at her. She smiled into his eyes.
Mike raised his eyebrows and then his gaze dipped lower. The sheer dress hid very little, and when his gaze returned, Hope grinned wider. Mike tossed Calder a blatant wink, before he settled his arm around her, pulling Hope close.
He could feel Gaire winding her way up the spiral staircase. I think he’ll be okay.
“I think so, too,” she answered. “Hope is very fond of him.” She appeared on the deck, blueish scales flashing through the slit in her sarong. Out loud, “We’re almost home.”
“When we return to Three Fingers, will you be queen?” Hope asked.
“I promised.” Gaire tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, squeezing into the seat next to Calder behind the steering wheel. “Melody is fussing downstairs, worried about her betrothed back home.”
Locking the wheel, he put his arm around Gaire, studying Mike. “We’ll be there today.”
Hope laughed at something Mike said, and Mike beamed.
“I’m pleased about that,” Calder said. “Maybe he’ll find some happiness after all the ugly.” Gaire nodded. “And you’ll be queen.” She nodded again. “And I’ll be... What? The Orphan King?”
Gaire laughed. “King?” She playfully pinched his tattooed side. “No, you will be my mate.”
He tucked his finger beneath her chin, turning her to face him. “Even better.” He kissed her. “What will you do about the other queen?”
Gaire shrugged. A small volume was open in her lap, a doodle in the margin caught Calder’s eye. A white-haired mermaid clutched a trident in one hand while the other gripped a crown in a tight fist.
He tapped the image. “I think I’ve seen that somewhere before.”
“Really? These are the Secret Annals, meant for queens’ eyes only.” She closed the book, tucking the small volume between them. “I wonder where you could have seen that.”
Calder shrugged. “We’ll deal with Mother Mistress when we have to, I guess. We’ll welcome all the mermaids that leave her.”
She paused, examining her fingernails. “I can’t believe that Venora did everything on her own. And the Secret Annals record a different story for the Mermaid that died at Benbecula. That mermaid had shown signs of becoming the next queen.
“Adrial was careful in her recording – accusing her of insanity and ignoring laws. I don’t believe them, though. There are even some journal entries that imply the Blue Men of Minch were beginning a rebellion.” She sighed. “There are so many pieces to wade through.”
That time, Calder nodded.
Gaire continued, “I’ll be forced to deal with her someday, but when Adrial’s neck is threaded in the noose, we’ll lay her treachery bare. Justice must find her.”
Calder nodded again, solemn, feeling her determination through the bond. He hoped he was prepared to shoulder the weight of leadership, sharing Gaire with the colony, without complaint. He swore to be the man she needed.
“But, for now, I am yours.” Her words reminded Calder that she could hear his thoughts.
He tucked her against him. “When the other time comes, we’ll deal with her together.”
Their lips met in a deep kiss.
Epilogue
A few months later
Calder did not answer Gaire’s thoughts, but listened to the bits and pieces crossing his mind. He sketched on the parchment, the peacock feather quivering above the quill.
I think your wedding tattoo is coming along nicely. Another few days and it will be done. Do mermaids always tattoo their hands?
A light-hearted smile dimpled her cheeks, her eyes twinkled. Yes, mated ones - always in blue and always on their hands and always during the ceremony announcing their first child.
A scowl crossed her face. I still want to find out what happened to your mother, Calder – I think Adrial knows.
Pushing aside the twinge of melancholy, Calder laughed instead. Tomorrow’s worries. When do you think we’ll be able to announce our first fishling?
She agreed, in his mind now. I have a feeling it won’t be very long. You had better hurry with that tattoo. I’m the queen now, you know, maybe I’ll make a new tradition. Do you like purple ink?
Purple would be perfect. Things have turned out rather nicely.
He nodded at Mike. He recognized the intense look on his friend’s face. Hope was seated next to him, speaking animatedly. Mike had settled into life on Three Fingers, and Hope was the puzzle before him, and Mike intended to figure her out. Good luck, Mike.
Gaire burst out. “Oh. I have something for you. I asked Melody to put it in a safe place until we returned.” She reached into a seaweed woven pouch hanging at her waist.
She scooted in front of Calder, bringing herself forward onto her knees. He noticed little sand grains held to the edges of her scales. Calder brushed his hand over her, staring into her intense gaze. “I saved this for you.”
With her left hand, she positioned Calder’s two like a cup. Lowering her tightly fisted right over his open palms, her face awash in happiness, he felt something drop. She pulled her fingers away and waited.
A cobalt shell rested in his grasp, covered in stripes and spots. The memory of a system kid filled his mind.
Mike asked, “So, what was it?”
“It was a shell, a weird blue one. I can’t remember what she looked like, but that shell still smelled like my mom, or at least I think it did.” Calder shrugged. “Smelled like home anyway. It’s long gone now. They chucked it down the storm drain.”
“Never know. Sometimes things work out.”
“They don’t for me.” He took one last look toward the dark hole in the long stretch of roadside curb. “It’ll
probably be that way until I die.”
That had been a lifetime ago. His chest swelled, and his vision blurred. “Gaire? Where did you find this?”
“On a San Francisco beach, while I sought the one my heart loves.”
He pulled her close, breathing in her smell. “Even when I didn’t know I was, I have always been chasing you.”
About the Author
Bokerah Brumley lives on ten permaculture acres, complete with sheep, goats, peacocks, turkeys, geese, guineas, ducks, chickens, five home-educated children, and one husband. She serves as the president of the Cisco Writers Club, and moonlights as an acquisitions editor for The Crossover Alliance.
For more information and a complete list of published works, please visit:
www.bokerah.com
Enjoy Queen of the Island?
Try the Keepers of New Haven.
Paranormal Maritime War: Magical Hunters Academy Expanded Book One
Nicole Zoltack
Paranormal Maritime War © 2020 Nicole Zoltack
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Chapter 1
“A week-long break,” Talise says. “I plan on swimming to the Grand Divide. Who’s with me?”
I giggle. “Do you honestly think you’ll be able to reach it and come back in time for the next semester to start?”
“I’m the fastest mermaid here,” she boasts. She swims in a tight circle, creating a mini whirlpool. With her black hair and greenish yellow tail, she’s a swirl of dark and light colors.
“You aren’t the fastest one here,” Dover claims. With red hair and a teal tail, I sometimes tease him that he’s the Christmas merman. He doesn’t appreciate that for some reason.
Talise halts abruptly, and the whirlpool dies instantly. “I said the fastest mermaid,” she points out.
“She did,” I inform Dover.
He harrumphs. “Even I would need four days to reach it. Four days back would make me late, and it’ll take you at least another day or two.”
“It would not,” Talise says stubbornly.
“What’s the point on swimming to the Grand Divide if you aren’t going to actually swim between the canyon?” I ask.
Talise pouts. “Don’t be such a sour sport, Rillia,” she complains.
“I’m not,” I protest. “I’d love to swim more of the Grand Divide.”
“More?” Talise gasps. “You haven’t—”
“You can’t possibly have,” Dover says.
I shrug and bat my eyelashes innocently. “Maybe I have. Maybe I haven’t.”
Talise narrows her eyes. “Did you really?”
I shrug again and flick my blue tail. I’ve always loved how it’s more iridescent at the bottom. A flick of my head has my long black hair falling behind my shoulders. “You two go on ahead if you want. I have a few more goodbyes to make.”
Dover eyes me critically and then nods. “I think she’s telling the truth.”
“No way,” Talise says, shaking her head violently, her hair gliding around through the water to cover her face. “Think about it. Why would she go by herself?”
“Because you know Rillia. She gets something in her head, and she does it.”
“But why not tell us until now? Why not invite us?”
“My guess? Adra.”
“Oh. Yeah. Adra.”
I giggle to myself as my friends swim out of hearing range. Adra is our friend, another mermaid, but she’s a bit of a scaredy-cat. Since she turned thirteen four years ago, she’s gotten a lot better about tattling on us. Now, she’s just nervous and anxious and whining that we should stop what we’re doing, but she’ll come along and watch whatever we’re up to. It’s hilarious, actually, because if she truly thought it was too dangerous, why is she coming with?
I could just picture Adra shaking her blond head, her silver tail flashing along with her silver eyes. She’d be shocked about my wanting to cross the Grand Divide. It might have been created by nature, but it’s a divide in the ocean, too, separate the merfolk from the sea dragons.
We don’t like sea dragons, and they don’t like us.
That’s actually an understatement.
Oh, well, I’m not going to worry about any of that now. I only made it a couple feet into the Grand Divide anyhow before I became too nervous about venturing any farther by myself. I thought I saw something, and even though it had probably only been a shadow, I zoomed away as if a shark’s jaws were inches away from biting off my tail.
I’m so grateful to not be just a mermaid. Some are always aquatic, but not me. As soon as I climb out of the massive pond and step foot onto the grounds within Magical Hunters Academy, my tail magically transforms into two legs. Even better is that I’ve learned the art of materialization, so I’m not naked from the waist down. My legs are encased in a long skirt that is almost the same hue as my tail.
Whistling, I rush over to where the students are eating. Most will be leaving after they finish their meal, and I want to say my goodbyes first.
An arm wraps around my waist, and a head lays on my shoulder.
“Rillia, won’t you stay?” Nixie asks dramatically.
I giggle and pat her chin. “You know I can’t.”
“You so could if you wanted to,” she protests, pulling away and glaring at me.
“Aren’t you going to go home?” I ask.
“No, actually. Not all of us can shapeshift into aquatic creatures, and besides, the band’s all gonna stay. We have to write more songs. I want us to not have to cover any songs for the next concert.”
“That’s a ton of material you’ll have to write,” I say, shocked by their ambitious goal.
Fancies of Ravens is a band of five sirens. They sing a cappella, and they sound amazing. They put on a show for the school earlier this year, and it blew my mind. Which, of course, isn’t surprising because, like I said, they’re sirens.
“You know, you have me to thank for the band forming in the first place,” I say.
“Yes, yes. I know.” She grins and then giggles. “Thank you.”
“You can thank me by having me be the maid of honor at your wedding.”
Her eyes widen in shock. “We aren’t—I mean—Marriage…”
I burst out laughing. “I’m just teasing, but if you two do marry…”
“What are you two talking about?” Brendan asks.
Nixie’s haunting green eyes narrow as she glares at me. She brushes her ridiculously long, teal-colored hair back and then smiles at her boyfriend. “We were just saying goodbye, weren’t we, Rillia?”
“I suppose.” I wink at her and nod at Brendan.
Brendan’s humming drew me out of the water a few months ago, right before the semester started. He only learned a few minutes later that he was actually a siren. He had no idea until his grandma told him. She’s an amazing woman, and he’s not half-bad himself. He had the crazy idea of wanting to form a band and invited me. I turned him down. I do like to sing but in public? No thanks. I suggested he go to Magical Hunters Academy and ask around. He applied and found a bunch of siren friends. They formed his band, and now, he and Nixie have been dating for months. They make a cute couple.
I glance around. “Where’s
the rest of the band?”
“Jacques is off, probably saying goodbye to the legion of girls who all want to date him,” Nixie says, rolling her eyes.
“It’s grown to a legion now, has it?” I ask.
“Yes. Don’t get me wrong. He has an amazing voice, and he’s cute and all—”
“Hey,” Brendan protests. “I’m right here.”
“I said cute. I didn’t say he was the cutest.”
“Oh.” Brendan, the dork, grins like a fool.
“That’s me.” Nixie giggles, and Brendan groans.
I shake my head. The two of them are too much.
“What about Melilia and Thenore?”
“They decided to go shopping, I think. Or they might’ve settled on a movie after all.” Brendan shrugs. “They were arguing about what to do.”
I laugh. The two are best friends, and they act like sisters, so yes, they squabble at times.
“Will you tell them goodbye for me?” I ask.
“Of course,” Nixie says.
Start to turn around and walk away but turn back to face them while still walking backward. “Hey, I have an idea. Why not write a song about the water?”
“Oh, yes,” Nixie says, her eyes lighting up. “Forbidden love under the waves. A mermaid and a… a…”
“A siren works,” I say, halting in pace.
She wrinkles her nose. “Nah…”
“A selkie,” I suggest.
“What about a sea dragon?” Brendan asks.
“Yes!” Nixie says.
At the same time, I shout, “No!”
“No? Why not?” Brendan asks.
“There’s bad blood between merfolk and sea dragons. That’s why.”
Mermaidia: A Limited Edition Anthology Page 49